straight from the pour its obvious this beer is serious. looks quite thick without being unappealing. nice tan foamy head with good lacing. quite dark while still showing some reddish highlights when held to light. head settles low but shows excellent stability.

amazingly smooth aroma. like a cold beer version of hot chocolate. a light floral honey aspect makes this quite enticing.

yummy. its all there. some dry roastiness, mellow chocolate, and quite a hefty amount of bitterness. finish leaves the mouth with a drying roast character but doesnt dominate the other flavors.

This brew pours a nice dark cola hue with nice carbonation that leaves behind a cappicino laced two finger head and some clingy lacing,it has a very unique smell to it with aromas of smokey wood,coffee,strong herbal hops and dark berries,it has a nice medium bodied well carbonated mouthfeel which makes it very sessionable and has beautiful tastes of light mocha,strong pungent herbal hops,blackberries,a tinge of light expresso and finishes with a nice herbal hoppy bitterness that leaves your palette wanting another sip straight away and makes the drinkability of this brew very high,overall it is truly an exceptional brew that i highly recommend not only is it enjoyable it is very sessionable too as its 6.0% ABV doesnt even show up on taste and i really cant wait to sample more from this brewery.

Very much porter-like, in fact, despite it's IBA label it's the best one of the best porters I've had in awhile. A mellow hop balance keeps this just outta normal porter range and into something "different".

It's exactly what I like about "the beer formerly known as black IPA"; a full flavored dark & rich ale with a twist of hops & a sassy-bitter finish.

*Poured from a 330mL bottle into a spiffy glass. Fellas, we need to figure out what we are going to call this style. Is it an ABA, BIPA, IBA, or a Caucasian whosawhatsit? Somebody figure this shit out.

A: The beer has more head than a hooker reference that somebody more clever than myself would be able to make up. It holds together beautifully, too. So soapy... Like a fucking root beer float. It's dark, yes, but I'd hardly call it black. Dark brown, possibly with an amberish hue would be more accurate. Aw, fuck it. It's beautiful.

S: The piney aroma of west coast IPAs and pales is very clearly present. Sweetness of caramel and toffee replaces the usual malty sweetness of the traditional IPA, but I certainly wouldn't go as far as to call the aroma 'toasty' or 'coffee like'. It's a chewy sweetness, that's for sure.

T: Tastes like an IPA! There's definitely the dark, roasted malt taste on the back end, but there should be, shouldn't there? I'm picking up a tad bit of dark fruit, but it's more of a tannin flavor. Like the skins of the fruit with a little nit of pulp still attached. I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying that this fruit flavor hides the floral taste of the hops. Not for me, it doesn't. But then again, most of the reviews are coming from the states and I'm drinking this in the city it was brewed in.

M: Medium bodied with a light, but appropriate amount of carbonation. The hop bitterness is more prevalent in the aftertaste, giving it a waxy mouthfeel later on.

O: With black IPAs becoming more and more of a serious style, each brewer production one wishes for it to become one of the primary examples of the style. Pot Kettle Black, for me, has that exact potential. Black IPAs , in my opinion, should have the same qualities as an IPA apart from two things: color and malt profile. The malty, bready sweetness should become darker along with the SRM/Lovibond, moving from the familiar pale sweetness into caramel/chocolaty sweets while keeping the same hop profile, body, and head. This does just that. Awesome, awesome beer.

note: 12 oz bottle aged for approximately 2 months (not likely a huge difference, but must be noted)

A- dark brown with a nice lacing head, about two fingers high poured delicately from a bottle

S- dark berries! some malt as well.

T- actually much smokier and maltier than i remember it being fresh (dunno if that's my memory being faulty or due to the moderate aging this bottle has accrued). still light, but with more pronounced chocolate notes, maybe some coffee.

M- light, slightly fizzy actually, which is a bit surprising.

O- better than i recall. again, not sure how much is due to the slight aging and how much is due to memory. but a totally fine beer regardless. now i kinda want a fresh one, and another to cellar for a year, just for fun. certainly recommended for fans of the style.

Damn near foams out of the glass with an average pour, gives you about a finger of LIQUID below the head, excellent retention not helping matters, it’s a very deep brown color, quite airy with hardly any larger bubbles, lots of cratering as it does finally dissolve, the lacing is thick and above average. The liquid likewise is a dark brown, clean but mostly opaque, with a brightening orange cast at the glass bottom. Heavy roast to the nose, coffee beans, dark chocolate, baguette, hard toffee, at times leafy with pungent white citrus and also pine sap notes, too much toast for much fruit to come through, lots of kick and energy. Medium-bodied, dry with an almost dusty texture to it. The carbonation acts like sandpaper gently scrubbing the tongue, doesn’t really provide lift. The coffee roast knit back into a larger and milkier chocolate base, more caramel than toffee. The white grapefruit citrus remains comfortably in second place. Pine, licorice and some cherry pit next, the more you sip the hoppier it seems. Might actually benefit from additional smokiness. Does not strive for crazy complexity, chooses an interesting array of flavors and keeps the recipe simple.

This just arrived this past Friday. It pours a light to medium bodied chestnut brown in color with a beige lacing around the glass. The nose is really nice. It features soft and smooth light chocolate, coffee with cream, a mild malty sweetness with just a touch of hop bitterness. Very complex for the style. The flavors are dry and hoppy with a moderate amount of bitterness. It begins dry and finishes with a nice slightly sweet chocolate maltiness. It's very approachable and has great drinkability. I like it. It's worth a try.

Pours a nice deep-brown with dark-red tinge. Head is beige, lovely and dense but dissipates before too long, leaving gorgeous but sparse lace ring around the glass. Pretty damn fine.

Nose is predominantly roasty. Nice dark chocolate notes giving sweet and toasty in equal measure. Slight floral hop notes lend it a mild sour touch, and the back is all caramel grain. Very nice.

Taste starts out all hoppy, with enjoyable floral notes, touch of pine and mint. Lasts until the mid where the roasty grain takes hold and gives it a mildly sour cocoa throttle. Rich chocolatey notes on the finish for a decent roast that doesn't quite fill the palate with its goodness. The nice hops return on the very back with more of a fresh, lighter bitterness than one might have expected from the rest of the palate, but it leaves me wanting more of a robust portery finish. Still, the hoppy/roasty balance overall is definitely a winner.

A bit too much fizz, but it's not harsh, nicely padded by the decent body.

Good take on the porter/IBA trade-off here. Very drinkable and enjoyable, makes for a great session beer or a transition beer for dark ale skeptics. One to remember.

A - Pours a 2cm beige head a top a very dark brown beer. The head slowly falls to a thin whisp leaving nice even lacing.S - Floral and fruity hoppiness with slight chocolate hints.T - Not too dissimilar to the smell; floral and fruity hop flavours with some subtle chocolate and vauge roastiness.M - Medium bodied, low carbonation and a noticeable but not overpowering bitterness.O - Another great American Black Ale from a Southern Hemisphere brewery.

Not sure why this beer doesn't get higher ratings. It's an outstanding porter, in my opinion. Perfect body, not watery. Notes of roasted malt, hops, and caramel in the aroma and palate. Great bitter finish. Dark ruby color, almost black. Produces a beige head, which dissipates fairly quickly, but leaves good lacing. The hops come forward as it warms.